Refrigerator cabinet construction



P 1948. 11w. RUNDELL I 2,449,415

REFRIGERATOR CABINET CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 6. 1948'.

F/Ci. 2,

, U-shaped sheet Patented Sept. 14, 1948 2,449,415 REFRIGERATOR CABINET CONSTRUCTION Theodore W. Rundell, Philco Corporation,

Abington, Pa, assignor to Philadelphia, Pa., a corporatlon of Pennsylvania Application February 6, 1948, Serial No. 6,760 Q The present invention is concerned with new and useful improvements in cabinet .structures, and relates especially to refrigerator cabinets and to outer shell structures therefor.

Broadly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved wall panel for such and to simplify the construction of refrigerators. More particularly, the invention has as an object the provision of a one-piece unitary rear panel member, adapted to extend the full height of the refrigerator cabinet, and so configured as to have an unusually high degree of strength and rigidity.

To these general ends, the invention contemplates provision of a cabinet including a wall member, or panel, which comprises spaced recessed portions, which portions are drawn from the plane of a single unitary sheet in such manner as to leave substantially coplanar marginal flange portions extending about the periphery of the panel and laterally thereof between said spaced recessed portions. One of the recessed portions is provided with an aperture-in a position such as to be upwardly presented when the panel is in use-in order that said portion may serve as a flue promoting flow of cooling air across the refrigerator condenser and providing space within which the condenser may be disposed.

It is an important feature of the construction that the aforesaid recessed panel portions not only effect a very substantial increase in the strength and rigidity of the outer shell assembly, as indicated above, but further make it possible both to utilize insulation .of greater thickness and to increase the size of the cabinet inner liner member, if such should be desired, without necessitating an overall redesign of the outer shell. As will be appreciated, fabrication of the which commonly comprises the side walls and top of the outer shell involves equipment of considerable cost and complexity, and it' will therefore be evident that it is highly desirable to increase the flexibility? of the cabinet design, without necessitating costly retooling.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a panel member of the aforesaid type, which is of such a nature as considerably to facilitate the mounting and support of sounddeadening insulation provided in the machine compartments of refrigerators.

It is an additional feature of the invention that the panel member is of such a nature as to make it possible to manufacture the same by a simple stamping procedure.

The foregoing and other objects and advanouter shells,

7 Claims. (Cl. 62-116) tages of the invention are hereafter set forth, 4 and described and illustrated in the accompany? ing drawings, in which:

Figure l is a view, in perspective, of the rear portion of a refrigerator cabinet incorporating the present invention; and,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the cabinet structure illustrated in Figfills the space between said inner and ure 1.

Now making more particular reference to the preferred embodiment illustrated and described, the cabinet structure comprises an outer shell Ill and an inner shell or liner member ll disposed within said outer shell and defining a storage compartment designated, generally, at l2. Insulation I3 which, for the purpose of the present invention may be of any desired type, outer shells, it being understood that the face portion of the refrigerator is provided with an access opening (not shown) and that the space between the forward marginal edges of the inner and outer shells would be bridged by a breaker strip of ,low

, thermal conductivity.

"from the plane of the sheet In particular accordance with the present invention, the outer shell I is provided with a onepiece, unitary rear panel l4 which extends the full length of the cabinet and includes upper and lower recessed portions shown at l5 and I6, respectively, which recessed portions are drawn during a stamping operation leaving substantially coplanar marginal flange portions l1, extending about the periphery of the panel i l and also laterally of the panel between said upper and. lower recessed portions l6 and I1. v

As clearly appears in Figure 2, the upper recessed panel portion is in registry with inner liner ll, while the lower portion l6 rear wall for a machinery compartment is housing a conventional condensing unit, represented at l9. To promote stability of the cabinet structure, it is desirable that the condensing unit be mounted well toward the rear compartment 18, and it will be observed'that the recessed portion l6 accommodates at least a part of the condenser 20, thereby making it possible to mount the condensing unit further toward the rear of the cabinet than is feasible with many cabinet structures of prior practice.

The upper edge of panel portion I6 is apertured, as shown at 2|, in order that said portion It may serve as a flue for condenser 20, it being a feature of the invention that the ap-. paratus obviates the necessity of separate fabriserves as the of the 'machinery cation and assembly procedures required when the flue structure is formed as a separate entity.

As indicated at 22, tabs extend from the wall structure defining the opening 2i into the apertured area, which tabs may be turned downwardly, to the position indicated at 23, and thus provide support for suitable sound-insulating material 24.

It is to be noted that in addition to the rigidity inherent in the construction, and the unitary flue structure provided thereby, use of a rear panel construction in accordance with the invention makes it possible to increase the depth oi the inner liner H withoutsacrifice of the desired thickness of insulation in the rear portion of the cabinet. As mentioned, supra, this feature makes possible a wider variation in cabinet design, without in any way affecting the tools required for fabrication of the side and topwalls of'the outer shell ill.

accordance with known techniques.

e'lower portion of the cabinet is'provided cabinet base.

From the foregoing description, it will now be understood that the present invention provides a novel and improved refrigerator cabinet struc- I claim: 1. In a refrigerator, a cabinet having a plurality of compartments therein, one of said compartments being adapted to house a condensing unit, and a panel structure associated with a side of said cabinet, said panel structure including a and said recessed portion being so positioned as to comprise extending outwardly of the cabinetand having pan-like portion being of such said one compartment and being apertured in an upper, region thereof, whereby said recessed positioned to support sound-insulatin material disposed within said one compartment.

4. In a refrigerator, a cabinet having a plucondensing unit disposed Dartment.

5. In a refrigerator, an outer'shell, an inner liner disposed within said outer shell and defining a storage compartment, a machinery compartment disposed within said outer shell -in adjacency to said storage compartment, and a uni- 6. For refrigerator cabinet construction, a rigid wall member comprising a portions and flange frigeratorflu'e structure.

7. For refrigerator" cabinet construction,. a rigid wall member comprising a pair of shallow pan-like portions and extending about the free edges of said pan-like portions, said flange portions being adapted for securement to a refrigerator cabinet, and one of said. size and shape frigerator machinery compartment, said one panlike portion being so configured that said portion 6 'may serve as a flue when the panel is associated r with -a. refrigerator cabinet. I UNITED STATES PATENTS THEODORE w. RUNDELL. Number Name Date 1,859,840 Phelps May 24, 1932 REFERENCES CITED 1,995,527 Watt Mar. 26, 1935 The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

